1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image scanning apparatus and a method of scanning an image using the same, and more particularly, to an image scanning apparatus and a method of scanning an image using the same which overdrive a fluorescent lamp to decrease an amount of time required to reach an operational state, thereby reducing a length of time that a user is required to wait prior to using the image scanning apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as a warm-up time of the image scanning apparatus).
2. Description of the Related Art
An image scanning apparatus operates to scan an object, such as an original copy of text, an image, or a film, and converting the scanned image into digital data. The digital data may be displayed on a monitor of a computer system as an output image or may be printed by a printer as an output image. An image scanning apparatus is usable in a scanner to generate digital data, a facsimile to provide a facsimile function, a copier to provide a copy function, etc.
Generally, an image scanning apparatus, such as a scanner, a facsimile, or a digital copier, includes a fluorescent lamp to illuminate an original copy so that information thereon can be digitized. Cold cathode fluorescent lamps (hereinafter, referred to as CCFL(s)) are typical light sources used in such scanners to illuminate the original copy.
However, a CCFL requires a predetermined period of time after the CCFL is “struck,” i.e., after the gas enclosed therein transitions into plasma, to emit an amount of light sufficient to illuminate an original copy. When a temperature is low, such as due to a penning effect of the CCFL or when a low voltage is applied, the period of time to generate the required amount of light becomes longer. Moreover, a long warm-up interval is required between the time when power is applied after an image scanning apparatus has been turned off and the time when the amount of light is sufficient for a scanning operation. Thus, the warm-up required to allow the CCFL to generate sufficient levels of light to perform scanning can be quite long.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, conventional techniques implement a heating unit that is separately provided around a CCFL and used to heat the vicinity of the CCFL. This technique uses the penning effect of the CCFL and maintains a high temperature to generate the required amount of light, thereby reducing the warm-up time.
However, according to the above-mentioned technique, the warm-up time may be shortened, but at least one separate heating unit is required. For this reason, system integration is more difficult and minimization of the size of the image scanning apparatus is practically unattainable. Additionally, the manufacture cost of the image scanning apparatus increases due to the added units.